Air-cooled seat cushion



Aug. 18, 1936. A. MITCHELL ET AL 2,051,494

AIR-COOLED SEAT CUSHION Filed June 4, 1934 I NVENTOR.

ollberb Mgzclzell BY and Otto/Yzzclzell ;ORNE.Y.

Patented Aug. 18, 1936 AIR-COOLED SEAT CUSHION Albert Mitchell and Otto Mitchell, Fort Smith, Ark., assignors to Mitchell Manufacturing 00., Fort Smith, Arln, a corporation of Arkansas Application June 4, 1934, Serial No. 728,869

2 Claims.

Our invention relates to seat cushions, particularly .of a construction permittingfree air flow and circulation in almost any direction there-.

through, and one of its important objects is-to 5 provide a cushion which may be placed upon a vehicle seat, a chair or any seating equipment and which will maintain a persons body a short distance from the actual seat itself to permit free air circulation about the persons body.

10 A further object of our invention is the provision of a novel and inexpensive seat cushion wherein the cushioning means comprises a plurality of adjacent parallel interlocked relatively yieldable coil springs, all being held in substan- 15 tially the same plane and being adapted to co-act in their joint or cooperative yieldable resistance to a person's weight placed upon any particular area thereof. Y

A further object of our invention is the pro- 20 vision of a yieldable seat cushion wherein a plurality of connected parallel springs for supporting a persons weight are enclosed within a substantially rectangular pocket or enclosure formed of netting, thereby permitting free circulation of air through such enclosure and through the series of parallel springs.

A further object is the provision of a novel construction of a netting-enclosing member for a plurality of yieldable parallel spiral springs which 30 are connected together and at their ends to a frame to present a pair of opposite flat faces.

Other and further objects of this inventionwill be apparent from the disclosures in the specification and the accompanying drawing.

This invention (in a preferred form) is illustrated in the drawing and hereinafter more fully described. I

n the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of our air-cooled seat and back cushion showing certain parts broken away for clarity and illustrating the screen-like netted fabric employed.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary view illustrating the construction of the frame and inter- 45 locked and connected yieldable springs.

Fig. 3 is a partly cross sectional and fragmentary view taken on line III-III of Fig. 1.

Fla. 4 is a cross sectional view taken on line IV-IV of Fig. 1.

5o While we will show and describe a connected seat cushion and back cushion flexibly hinged together, we desire it to be understood that our v invention resides in the construction of either and that each may be used separately.

55 In the preferred form illustrated in the drawing, the reference numeral l0 indicates a rela-' tively stiff wire frame formed of one continuous piece of wire and having its ends suitably secured together in a metal coupling l I, as shown in Fig. 2. The frame Ill is substantially rectangular ex- 5 cept that the same is beveled at two adjacent corners to form angles of substantially 135 dedegrees at two adjacent comers as indicated in Fig. 1, thereby forming a relatively short end portion 13. A plurality of spirallywound coil springs I 2 formed of relatively thin and yieldable steel wire and having the coils thereof substantially vertically disposed with respect to the longitudinal axis thereof are connected together in interwoven and interlocked position and relation, as shown in the drawing (particularly Fig. 2), and in such a manner that each spring connects the adjacent springs I: on each side thereof. The ends M of each of said interwoven yieldable spiral springs I2 is bent and hooked about the opposite end portions of the frame ID, as clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 2, said springs beingthereby maintained in slightly stretched position for the purpose of maintaining all of said springs l2 and said frame ID in substantially a common plane. The outermost spring II on each side of the series of connected springs is spirally wound about the side portion of frame I 0, as indicated in Fig. 2, the coils of said outermost springs being also wound about adjacent coils of the immediately adjacent springs'l2. The construction further serves to keep said springs taut and in a common plane and to cooperate when pressure is exerted at any one of numerous points upon said springs. A similarly constructed coil spring is having coils of substantially the same diameter as springs I2 is spirally wound about and along the entire lower end portion of the frame III, as indicated in Figs. 1 and 2, the ends of: said spring being 40 preferably hooked and secured about frame I at the corners thereof adjacent the end of said spring. It will be apparent that the longitudinal axis of the said spring is perpendicular to the springs l2 and the sides of frame ID. The

springs l2 and I5, when secured on frame it, are slightly stretched, and being interwoven as described, placement of a person's weight upon a fractional area thereof will not strain, stretch or crush any one or more springs, particularly because of the joint and cooperative and yieldable resistance of a group of adjacent interlocked springs. It will be apparent that the pressure of a weight exerted on any one comparatively small area of the cushion efiects resistance from a large group or area of coil springs due to the interwoven and connected construction which we employ.

Our next step is to form an enclosure for the prepared spring cushion in which we first out two layers of meshed netting l6 and II of paper, cotton or other thread, of a size slightly larger than the spring cushion. We then place the layers It and I1 together, place a fabric tape It to overlap three side edges of the layers and stitch through said tape and said layers to form stitching I! which securely connects together the adjacent edges of said netting l6 and I1 along three sides thereof. a

We then fold the opposite sides of fabric reinforcing tapes 2! and 22 around the adjacent free edges respectively of the netting layers in such a manner so that a much longer portion of each of said tapes lies adjacent the inside surface of said trate our article as comprising both a seat anda back section which have been joined together by a flexible fabric. In forming this complete back and seat unit, we first prepare the back cushion in the manner we have hereinbefore' described, except that in making one of the rows of stitching 20, we simultaneously stitch throughit one longitudinal edge of a flexible canvas strip 24 which is preferably more than three inches in length. We place the other and opposite edge of said canvas strip 24 between the unsecured adjacent reinforcing tapes 2| and 22 and their respective netting edges, and thereafter pass stitching 20 entirely through said edges, reinforcing tape and strip 24, this securing the adjacent back and seat.

units together in substantially the relation shown in Fig. 1. It will be apparent that a connected back and seat unit formed as above described can be conveniently positioned upon and against the seat -and back respectively of a vehicle seat or of comfort through resiliency as well as impart coolness. Further, the construction of the edges of our seat and back cushion are such that the tangular relatively rigid wire frame; a plurality of parallel spirally wound wires forming yieldable springs having their opposite ends connected to opposite ends of said frame and having their adjacent convolutions interlocked, the outermost springs at opposite sides of said frame being wound about the side portions of said frame; one said spring being wound about the end portion of said frame and perpendicularly 'with respect to said plurality of springs; an enclosure for said frame and springs comprising a pair of flat netting members, one of said netting members being on each of the opposite flat sides-of said springs, said netting members having their lateral edges extending beyond said frame into adjacent overlapping relation; and a reinforcing fabric binding folded and secured over each of said lateral edges and stitches securing together said binding 7 and said netting lateral edges adjacent thereto.

2. An article of manufacture comprising similarly constructed yieldable self-cooling back and seat portions, said back and seat portions each comprising a substantially rectangular relatively rigid wire frame, a plurality of spirally wound wires forming yieldable springs having-their op posite ends connected to opposite sides of said ,frame and having their adjacent convolutions interlocked, the outermost springs at opposite sides of saidframe being wound about opposite side members respectively of said frame and parallel with respect to said plurality of springs, and an enclosure for each of said frames and springsa each enclosure comprising a pair of fabric netting members, one of said netting members being on each of the opposite flat sides of said springs, said netting members having their lateral edges extending beyond said frame into adjacent overlapping relation, said back and seat enclosures. being connected together-by flexible fabric strip' stitched to portions of the lateral edges of said back enclosure and said seat enclosure, respectively. I

ALBERT MITCHELL. 

